Yamato and Wicky Draw at Dynamite

Friday, 31 December 2010 09:20

Written by Fraser Coffeen

The final K-1 fight at Dynamite!! 2010 featured K-1's 63kg Grand Prix champion Tetsuya Yamato facing Dream fighter Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura.  It wasn't a fight that received a lot of hype heading into the show, but turned out to be a very entertaining affair.

Through the first two rounds, the fighters were mostly even, with Wicky perhaps edging out a slight advantage by using his speed and unorthodox style to keep tagging Yamato.  Open scoring was on, and all judges gave the first two rounds 10-10.  With no extension rounds at Dynamite!!, the fight came down to the 3rd.

Both men really stepped up their game in that 3rd round, turning in a fun final stanza.  Nishiura reverted to some of his MMA habits, making things a bit sloppy at times, but both men kept the speed up, working hard to take the win.  In the closing minute, Yamato finally started to land, rocking Wicky and stumbling him.  Great ending to the fight there and some of the best action of the night so far. 

I thought that final exchange earned Yamato the round and the win, but only one judge saw it that way.  The other two again went 10-10, resulting in a majority draw.  That's not a great result for Yamato, who sould have been able to defeat the MMA fighter, but it was the kind of fight that will earn both men new fans regardless of the outcome.

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